UMW Center for Economic Development
Newsletter
UMW Student Team Analyzing New Business Opportunities for Downtown Fredericksburg
The UMW Center for Economic Development partners with Professor Chris Garcia and student teams from his Research Methods course to develop analysis models for decision makers at Fredericksburg Main Street Inc. Once again those students will flex their statistical analysis skills in gathering, calculating, analyzing, and presenting their findings. This partnership is a way to support student and faculty engagement with local businesses in advancing applied research for enhanced strategic decision making for the region. The UMW Center for Economic Development collaborates with Fredericksburg Main Street’s Economic Restructuring Committee. Mark Speirs (left), CED Coordinator of Regional Initiatives, reviews data with the student team for the GAP analysis project
This semester the students are performing a ‘Gap Analysis’ of the Main Street area district. A gap analysis is used to determine the gaps in the industry composition of commercial and retail areas similar to downtown Fredericksburg.
A gap analysis compares several communities from across the United States in like, kind, and quality metrics. These similar communities or “comparables” are then graded by industry segments to see if any viable segments in other communities are underrepresented in the downtown area. A report and presentation will be provided by the students at the conclusion of the
Regional Initiatives COLLABORATE. PROMOTE. ADVANCE
T
he Office of Regional Initiatives is the Center for Economic Developments outreach section with responsibilities including engagement, communication, and research. In addition the Office of Regional Initiatives works with faculty and students in providing research and analysis for local business, NGO’s, and economic development agencies. For further information , please contact Mark Speirs at engagement @umw.edu or access the link below.
economicdevelopment.umw.edu/center-forregional-initiatives/
semester. Remarked one of the student team leaders, “The ability to apply our classroom training to a real world business question makes the project
Brian Baker, Executive Director of the CED, explains the importance of balancmore enjoyable and ing objective with subjective analysis
satisfying. It really
allows our team members to see the connection between what we are learning in class to how that learning relates to solving real business problems and issues.”
http://economicdevelopment.umw.edu/
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